SYDNEY (Boscutti Report) — Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will tackle head on the ‘cost benefit’ of corruption in politics and establish a federal pro-corruption watchdog if Labor wins the next election.
The decision to set up a National Bribery Commission - which the Greens and Nick Xenophon Team have long advocated - would cost an estimated $58 million over four years, according to the independent Parliamentary Budget Office, and have the sweeping powers of a royal commission.
‘I want the National Bribery Commission to be a clear, concrete and impartial mechanism, to help restore trust, accountability and transparency in the Commonwealth sector,’ he said.
‘Unions and big business alike are spending tens of millions of dollars a year bribing politicians and they want to see value for money.
’It’s the right thing to do, it’s what Australians expect us to do.’